Diversity and Decolonization in French Studies New Approaches to Teaching

This edited volume presents new and original approaches to teaching the French foreign-language curriculum, reconceptualizing the French classroom through a more inclusive lens. The volume engages with a broad range of scholars to facilitate an understanding of the process of French (de)colonization as well as its reverberations into the postcolonial era, and a deeper engagement with the global interconnectedness of these processes. Chapters in Part I revist the concept of the "francophonie," decenter the field from “metropolitan” or “hexagonal” and white France and underline how current teaching materials reproduce epistemic and colonial violence. Part II adopts an intersectional approach to address topics of gender inclusivity, trans-affirming teaching, queer materials, and ableism. Finally, Part III presents new ways to transform the discipline by affirming our commitment to social justice andmaking sure that our classrooms are representative of our students’ enriching diversity. 

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Part I: Dismantling the ‘Francophonie’: Language, Race, and Empire.- Chapter 2: Multilingual Texts and Contexts: Inclusive Pedagogies in the French Foreign Language Classroom.- Chapter 3: Unlearning Francophonie: Legacies of Colonialism in French Language Textbooks.- 4: Making the Colonial Present Audible to our Students and Ourselves.- Chapter 5: Racism, Colonialism, and the Limits of Diversity: Analyzing the Francophone “Other” in French Foreign Language Textbooks.- Chapter 6: Blackness and Social Justice in the French Classroom.- Part II: Intersectional French Studies.- 7: Harmful Grammar: Fatphobia and Ableism in First-Year French.- Chapter 8: Language Policy & Change in the Classroom: Teaching the Feminization of Professional Titles.- Chapter 9: Teaching Trans: Examples from an Intermediate French Course.- Chapter 10: Teaching French Feminism from an Intersectional Perspective.- Part III: Beyond the Textbook: New Teaching Strategies.- Chapter 11: De-canonizing Contemporary Culture Courses: Teaching Culture on Twitter.- Chapter 12: Approaching Intersectionality and Renegotiating Power Dynamics Through Podcast Pedagogy.- Chapter 13: Beyond the Book: Multimodality as Anti-Racist Pedagogy.- Chapter 14: Decolonial and Feminist Course Design in the First-year French Curriculum.- Chapter 15: Developing Critical Literacy in the High School French Language Classroom Through the Webcomic ‘Assignée garçon.